1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of fire hydrants, and also to pylons and support posts found both on land and in water, and a reflective or fluorescent means to identify or warn of their location.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Fire hydrants are a part of every day life and in most communities they are located in spaced apart relationship in order to provide a source of water to fireman in fighting a fire within the proximity of the particular hydrant. Fire hydrants are recognized in our daily travels, but their exact location does not often register in our minds. The same holds true for fire fighters when responding to a fire when they visually identify the location of the nearest hydrant as a result of their bright color. However, in the hours of darkness and other periods of low visibility, the fire hydrants, even though brightly colored, may not be readily identifiable to the fire fighters and the inability to locate the fire hydrant may delay the commencement of the fire fighting activities and thus endanger not only property, but life.
In such situations of low visibility or darkness, in warm and temperate climates, a solution to the problem has been to embed in the concrete or asphalt proximate to the fire hydrant, a reflective or fluorescent member which is easily visible to the fire fighter for identifying the location of a fire hydrant.
This solution has not been available in colder climates which experience a winter period where snow may be prevalent which may cover the reflective or fluorescent identifier. Still further, in such climates, snow removal may have a deleterious affect on the reflective or fluorescent identifier embedded in the concrete or asphalt adjacent the fire hydrant such that its life span is limited.
Is Therefore there exists the need for a reflective or fluorescent member that can be easily secured to or about a fire hydrant which at night or low visibility situations will easily identify the location of the hydrant to the fire fighters.
The same type of an assembly can find application in night time, low visibility or low illumination situations with respect to pylons and supports in bodies of water, such as pylons supporting a duck blind, pylons or supports supporting a pier or wharf, and pylons or supports along traffic thoroughfares where there is little or no street lighting, such as country roads or the like. Further application may also be had to utility poles of aluminum, steel or concrete which line many unilluminated country roads.